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ACE
With models like the Discovery finding more homes as normal family vehicles, Land Rover had to do something about body roll. Anti-roll bars were used initially, but Active Cornering Enhancement was introduced with the Discovery 2 and used hydraulic rams to keep the body flatter in corners.
ADVERTS
Rover started advertising the Land Rover right from the get-go. Fortunately, most times the images look more like the actual thing than this advert placed in the 28 April 1948 issue of The Motor.
AIR-PORTABLE
The Half-Ton Land Rover was designed to be narrow enough to be carried two abreast in an Armstrong Whitworth AW660 Argosy aircraft and light enough to be carried by a Westland Wessex helicopter – which gained it the Lightweight moniker. It was designed to be stripped down for air-transportation; built-up it was heavier than the civilian model.
AIR SUSPENSION
Where would Land Rover be without air suspension? Introduced with the Range Rover Classic, it has given Land Rover drivers a fantastic ride ever since. With its ability to lower to get in and out or connect a trailer, adjust for any load, or lift itself up to cross obstacles, it’s a winner.
AMBULANCES
Although Series and Defenders were the basis for many ambulance conversions, Discoverys were also adapted, and some gained extended wheelbases. The last generation Land Rover-based ambulance to enter military service was the Defender XD 130 Pulse.
AMPHIBIOUS
There have been loads of amphibious Land Rovers over the years, many created for military trials, but Land Rover has also used them for publicity, with a Ninety and Discovery being used as part of its promotional activities for Cowes Week. An amphibious Land Rover crewed by Steve Burgess and Dan Evans made the first crossing of the 56-mile Bering Strait between Russia and the US in a land vehicle in 2008.
ARTICULATED
Land Rovers are fantastic for towing, so why not give them a fifth wheel enabling them to make up an articulated unit. That’s what Dixon Bate did in the 1960s, offering a range of trailers. A number of Defender 90s were also so-equipped for moving racecourse starting gates.
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Why settle for the same as everyone else, when you can have your Range Rover built your way. From any colour under the sun to bespoke interiors, Land Rover’s crafts people could make you something that really stood out from the rest.
AZIZA
Translating from Arabic as ‘Beloved’ Aziza is the name given to the different Land Rovers globetrotting photographer Nino Cirani used. He had three: a grey 88in export-spec Series II, a grey 109in station wagon and the one most people know, a red 109in hard top with windows. All three carried an Autohome Air-Camping roof tent, and were comprehensively kitted out for overland trips. Aziza 3 is part of the collection of the Automobile Museum, Turin.
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BOND, JAMES BOND
Bond films have seen plenty of Land Rovers, from the Hong Kong police 107in Series I station wagons in 1967’s You Only Live Twice and the Series III in the opening sequence for The Living Daylights. More recently Land Rover has teamed up with the franchise to supply vehicles, including the much-copied big-tyred Spectre 110, and Defender L663s in No Time To Die.
DAVID BACHE
Taking the Land Rover’s flat edges and softening them slightly with the barrel sides of the Series II was a brilliant bit of design by David Bache. The fact that next to no changes were made to the styling for almost 60 years, from 1958 to 2016, shows that good design never looks dated. Bache also had a hand in the styling of the original Range Rover.
BOWLER
Drew Bowler started Bowler to create off-road competition vehicles, and his legacy lives on with the Bowler Rally series, after the company was bought by Land Rover and incorporated into its Special Vehicles division. The
